Cover for typewriter keys



0. A. HOKANSON.

COVER FOR T YPEWRITER KEYS. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 19. 1919 1,222,262. Patented July 2, 1922.

UNITED STATES.

@WFT@E.

PATEN OTTO A; HOKANSON, OF WOODSTOCK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WOODSTOCK TYPE WRITER COMPANY, OF WOODSTOCK, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

COVER FOR TYPE-WRITER KEYS.

Application filed December 19, 1919.

To all whom. it may concern..-

Be it known that I, Or'ro A. HoKansoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at WVoodstock, in the county of McHenry and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Covers for Typewriter Keys, of which the following 1s the specification.

This invention-has for its obyect the provision of a device of the charactennamed which shall be of improved construction and operation.

The invention is 'exemphfied ln the combination and arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings aIId dQSOIIbGCl in the following specification, and it 15 more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a typewr ter key having a cover made accordlng to the present invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the key showing Fig. 1.

The numeral 10 designates a typewriter kev lever of usual construction which carries at its end a finger piece which may be of any well known form. The construction illustrated in the drawing is by way of example and it should be understood that this invention may be applied to keys of various construction. I

In the embodiment shown in the drawlngs the end of the keylever is provided with shoulders 11, which support a cupped disc 12, within which a washer 13 is disposed and held in place by a tongue 14:, on the end of the key lever. A circular. plate 15 is supported by the rim of the cup 12, and a letter disc 16 rests upon the plate 15, and 1S covered by a transparent disc 17 through which the character upon the letter disc 16 may be seen. A metal ring 18 surrounds the parts of the structure described and grips the periphery of the cup 12. The ring 18, has the upper edge thereof bent over to form a flange 19, which bears "upon the upper piece of the transparent disc 17. It will be seen that the ring 18 and the flange 19 holds the parts of the key in assembled relation to one another.

The parts thus far described comprise the usual finger piece of a typewriter key. There are many forms of such finger pieces and the one described is given by way of example and it Should be understood that the present Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 11, 1922. Serial No. 345,948.

invention applies to other forms of keys as well as that illustrated.

Surrounding the finger piece is a cover ring 20, having the upper edge 21 thereof turned inwardly and overlying the flange 19 on the ring 18. The entire center of the ring 20 is cut away to form a central opening as The color of the ring should be such that it will not reflect the light in a way to produce a glare on the key board and black has been found to be a desirable color for this purpose.

The ring 18 or corresponding parts of typewriter keys is usually made of metal and generally plated or polished to give a bright finish. Such a finish produces a glare where a number of keys are collected, as in the key board of a typewriter, which becomes tiresome and disconcerting to an operator who must have the key board before her for extended periods of time. If the metal portion of the key is enameled or finshed in a darker color the enamel will gradually Wear away with use, producing bright surfaces so that after the key board has been used for some time it will have the same objection as where the keys are originally finished with a bright surface. WVhate'ver finish is employed, metal keys, that have been used for some time, become tarnishedwhere they are not kept bright by contact with the fingers while other parts of the keys are polished by use so that they reflect the light in the disagreeable manner referred to above. In this way a key board of metal keys becomes disagreeable to use after a period of time.

By equipping such. a key board with a full set of nonmetallic rings according to the present invention, anew finish is immay be replaced from time to time if deing glare such as is present where metallic keys are employed.

I claim:

1. In combination, a typewriter key having a metallic outer surface member surrounding the lateral face thereof and having the upper face thereof arranged to carry a designation character and a cover ring of relatively hard non-metallic material of a size to fit snugly over said key without material stretching of said ring, said ring having the upper edge thereof turned inwardly to provide ran inwardly projecting flange with a central opening to permit the designation character upon the upper face of said keyto be seen by the operator, a

2. In combination, a typewriter key, and means for. imparting a relatively non-refleeting surface finish to said key comprising a cover ring movable into and out of mamas? position on said key,said ring beingflcomposed of celluloid or similar material and being arranged to cover the lateral face of said key'while permitting the upper face of said key to remain visible.

3. In combination, a typewriter key and means for imparting a dull finish to said key comprising a non-metallic ring of relatively hard flexible material which does not stretch readily, said ring being of a size to fit snugly on said key and movable into and out of place thereon and having an inwardly bent flangearranged to overlie a portion of the upper face of said key adjacent the periphery thereof while the central portion of the upper face of said key remains visible to the operator, the material of said ring being of'a uniform dark color throughout so that the appearance thereof will not be materially altered by wear.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification on this 16th day of December A. D. 1919. v

' OTTO A. HOKANSON. 

